Kancolle Alt

by MasterBaiter4.0

A new destroyer joins the Yokosuka Naval Base, befriending old and new allies alike to fight their sworn enemies, the mysterious Abyssals. Little do they know, the first act of the war is drawing to a close...

24. Chapter 24 - Abdication

Author's Note

I draw the cover images myself, and I've updated it with the second cover.

---

Unryuu and the Southern War Princess's bomber and fighter planes battled for air supremacy, flitting and banking as they attempted to shoot each other down and drop their payload on their respective targets, Shigure barely registering them in her mind as she unloaded her cannon into the shields of the Southern War Princess, barely affecting the holographic shields that surrounded the Abyssal like a protective bubble as her pathetically-sized shells harmlessly bounced off its plates, the force field rippling as it spread the impact of the shell over a large area before dissipating and turning invisible again.

Kawakaze shouted over the chaos of the battlefield as she raised some kind of pistol, not unlike Hayasui's flare gun as she squinted her eyes at what was to come.

"Star shell, out!"

Firing the star shell meant that it was easier for everyone to observe their surroundings since star shells were like flares, but possessed a parachute and were thus airborne for a longer period of time, Shigure squinting as a star shell flew out from the barrel of the star shell gun, illuminating the ocean and all the combatants on the battlefield as the star shell's parachute flared up to slow down the star shell's descent.

The Southern War Princess, upon seeing the star shell flying into the air and flooding the ocean with an incandescent glow, clicked her tongue as pointed her cannons at the group of ship girls, getting the show on the road as her cannons whirred into position.

[Well, come on, bitches!

Let's see you dance!]

Kiso unloaded 10 torpedoes in the direction of the Abyssal Princess as she got out of the way of the Southern War Princess's cannon barrels, an action which was mimicked by everyone as the Southern War Princess fired her own torpedoes to keep them on their toes while she tried to get one of the ship girls in her sights.

And she unleashed the fury of her weapons as the two sets of her three 16 Inch Triple Gun Cannons roared, splitting the sky with a thunderous boom that made Shigure freeze up in fear from the sheer power of the Abyssal's cannons that were battleship-tier, but whose capacity for destruction was on a whole other level, seeing that the shells carved out a small valley as they flew across the ocean, Shigure diving to the floor as she shielded herself from the pillar of seawater thrown up as a result of the large-caliber shells impacting the ocean.

Hearing Maya curse upon safely evading a shell and an Abyssal torpedo,

"Bloody hell!"

And noticing that Kiso's torpedoes detonated as they impacted the Princess's shields and caused the shield plates that were submerged beneath the ocean to glow a furious red, Shigure unable to find a chance to fire off her torpedoes as the Southern War Princess unloaded all her cannons in their direction.

The Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer noted that the Abyssal was actively trying not to get surrounded by the faster ship girls by constantly re-positioning herself relative to the moving ship girls while using her Abyssal fighter planes to prevent Unryuu and Ise from gaining air superiority, something which could tilt the battle in the favor of the winner should one side gain an edge over the other.

Shigure noted that the underwater damage from the torpedoes hadn't yet recovered, Kiso still trying to wither down the Abyssal's protective bubble shield as they utilized their weapons simultaneously, Kiso firing off more torpedoes along with Kawakaze who escaped the barrage of cannon fire to chip in with three torpedoes of her own.

Ise and Maya firing their cannons at the shield's middle layer while Akitsu Maru fired her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun and Hatsuharu fired her 12.7 Cm B Model Twin Gun Cannon seemed to be the last straw for the shield after as an ominous crack sounded out, several of the plates breaking as Ise shouted, taking charge since Akashi was busy tending to the wounded.

"It's breaking!

Get ready!"

And Shigure thought back about the pre-sortie briefing that the Admiral conducted before the sortie, explaining the Abyssal Princess's defenses and attack capabilities as the shield shattered, and as the Abyssal Princess unloaded a salvo of cannon fire in order to protect herself.

---

"Look, the Abyssal Princess's defense capabilities consist of three layers to defend against three types of attack."

Admiral Mako was surrounded by the fleet girls of the 8th and backup Fleet, the Admiral dead serious about the enemy which they were going up against, sharing information which was gathered over nearly two decades of warfare against the epitome of Abyssal-kind, mostly as a recap lesson since most of them were veterans that had likely already went up against a few Princesses in their time.

Shigure listened closely, ignoring everything as she tried to visualize how the Abyssal Princess would defend against conventional ship girl weapons as Admiral Mako continued.

"Imagine a shield, shaped like a sphere and is made up of invisible, hexagonal plates that glow red whenever they block an impact.

And you divide them into three horizontal layers, the bottom-most layer being submerged underwater and arguably the toughest since that shield layer blocks torpedo explosions."

Shigure nodded at that logic, understanding that torpedoes were perhaps one of the most potent weapons that ship girls and Abyssals alike possessed, despite their uncontrollable 'fire-and-forget' nature compared to the 'point-and-click' damage caused by their cannons.

It made sense if an Abyssal who possessed a passive defense system would strengthen her defense against torpedoes to prevent her feet from being blown up beneath her, something which wouldn't bode well for an Abyssal who was fighting against an entire fleet by herself.

Admiral Mako continued, explaining the bubble shield and the topmost layer of defense that defended itself from aerial assaults.

"The topmost layer is what's used to protect the Abyssal Princess from bombers planes, while the middle layer defends against cannonfire.

When you damage and break a plate in the shield, the plates surrounding the affected plate are now easier to break due to the missing plate, and the shield layer will fall apart if it sustains enough damage."

And Unryuu pointed out,

"But their shields can eventually recover, and we have to do the whole song and dance again to break the shields."

And Admiral Mako sharply inhaled, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow as she sighed and agreed.

"Yes, Unryuu, the shields can come back online after a cool-down period of three minutes.

But if you take out the entire shield, and I mean all three layers of it, it'll take twice as long to repair the entire shield since they have to distribute their restorative efforts over the three destroyed layers of shields."

Admiral Mako looked around at all of them as her eyes hardened, ending off the briefing with very brief instructions for them.

"Look, when you go up against the Princess, just watch out for each other, and don't sink.

Please."

Hatsuzuki was the one to point out something about the Admiral's words, her mature voice soft as she spoke up.

" … You say 'When' we go against the Princess, not 'If'?"

Admiral Mako shrugged as she shamelessly expressed her confidence in this group of misfits with colourful personalities as her feet waggled energetically, a smile gracing her tired face and was a welcome change in her mood.

"Well, I believe in you all beating the Elites and normie Abyssals easily, and likely even beating the Princess herself.

I mean, you're some of my oldest and most skilled ship girls, and I'd be stranger if I didn't believe in you all, right?"

This resulted a chorus of ship girls nodding and grunting in approval of their Admiral's faith in them, Shigure looking around and understanding that ship girls like Maya, Hatsuharu, Akashi and the Ise sisters, amongst others, had lived far longer than her and were far stronger than she could ever hope to imagine.

Everyone's confidence was now slightly boosted, and they were invigorated because of their Admiral's explicit faith in their abilities, Shigure deciding that she should have a little faith in her experienced teammates as she prepared to sortie.

---

True enough, she could see Kawakaze and Hatsuharu trying to destroy the shield plates with their cannons and torpedoes to widen the conspicuous hole as they were pulsing a carmine red due to their fragility and were compromised in terms of strength, knowing that every cannon shell and torpedo explosion would chip away at them as Kawakaze fired from her rigging and the small cannon on the back of her hand.

Others, like Maya and Akitsu Maru, tried to utilize the hole in the shield to target the Princess herself as the former tried to use her main cannons to aim at the Southern War Princess, while the latter lobbed a grenade through the shield hole and attempted to draw first blood, the slow Princess encumbered by her own weapons and unable to get too far before the grenade detonated.

The Abyssal Princess was obscured by the smoke and water thrown up in her face due to the powerful detonation of the grenade as the combined firepower of the two fleets paid off since three other weakened plates on the middle layer of the damaged shield, true to Admiral Mako's word, began to fall apart as four conspicuous holes were adjacent to each other and compromised the formation of the shield, its plates collapsing and breaking apart as its shattered bits plopped into the ocean harmlessly.

But the topmost layer was still defending the Princess from the wrath of Unryuu's bombers, as evidenced by the occasional Suisei breaking through the enemy fighter plane formation and hail of Anti-Air fire to drop its payload, only to have them denied as the shield plates flared an incandescent red upon deflecting the damage.

The Princess broke through the smoke produced by the grenade, her tough skin slightly singed from and her stance slightly thrown off by the grenade detonation at close range, but looking no worse for the wear as she readied her main cannons to fire while re-positioning herself.

The ship girls closed in, still wary of being hit by her lethal 16 Inch Cannons or even any of her auxiliary cannons which would spell disaster for them should any one of them connect.

Hayasui attempted to break the tense stare-down by lobbing a Molotov Cocktail at the Princess to cause an opening to present itself, which was promptly shut down as one of her Anti-Air turrets shot down the fragile container, causing it to shatter as it reached the peak of its projected parabola path through the sky.

But it was enough for Kiso and Akitsu Maru to dart forward with swords in hand, Kiso shouting,

"Shukuchi!"

As she sped up, causing the Southern War Princess's cannons and torpedoes to miss her by a large margin as her lithe figure blurred throughout the battlefield, almost a decade of physical conditioning allowing her to be one of the fastest ship girls in Yokosuka as she rushed forward, her cutlass barely reflecting a glint of moonlight as she slashed at the Southern War Princess's neck.

A metallic CLANG! rang out throughout the battlefield as Kiso's cutlass made contact with the Abyssal's neck, a show-stopper as the entire battlefield tried to see the results of Kiso's strike as her movements came to a halt right before the Princess's torso, her cape which was previously flaring up now dying down and hiding her striped rigging.

The Southern War Princess was smiling maniacally as Shigure cautiously sailed around to get a better look at the situation, Kiso's cutlass unable to break the skin of the Princess as the Southern War Princess mocked.

[Well, looks like your sword was useless against my Steel Skin after all, eh?!]

But a dark figure rushed forward behind Kiso and was partially blocked by the torpedo cruiser's figure, evading the reflexive firing of the Abyssal's 16 Inch Cannons by performing a spinning jump-flip over the deafening blasts of the two large-caliber shells flying past her airborne figure while Kiso took advantage of the confusion to plant both boat slippers on the Princess's torso and boosting while using the Southern War Princess's tough abdomen as a kick-board to propel herself backwards as Akitsu Maru readied her stance while still airborne, her back arched and a manic grin painted on her own face as she prepared to pierce the Abyssal's face with her bloody katana.

Only the quick reaction of the Abyssal Princess which involved the tilting of her head to prevent the burning tip of Akitsu Maru's Kagutsuchi from piercing her right eye, the ignited blade illuminating the slightly fearful features of the Southern War Princess as she attempted to strike back with her Anti-Air cannons to shoot the IJA ship girl while she was still in mid-air.

But the timely intervention of Maya and Ise to cover Akitsu Maru's retreat was what drove the Abyssal into retreating, the Kai Ni heavy cruiser unloading a barrage of blows into the Southern War Princess's torso and chest after advancing from the Princess's right flank, taking advantage of the fact that the Abyssal's cannons, as powerful as they were, required a very long reload time and was the ideal moment to slip in and land a few physical blows, while Ise unloaded two cannon shots at the Princess's left rigging, causing small cracks to form on the surface of the weapon stack as the firepower of a battleship, weak she may be, was nothing to laugh at as it could still deal considerable damage.

But the three of them were forced to disperse as the Southern War Princess pointed the three 16 Inch Triple Cannons in their general direction, scaring them off as she retreated slowly while waiting for her shield to come back on as the ship girls tried to surround her.

Shigure looked to the rest of the ship girls, seeing that Akashi was almost done with Hatsuzuki and Hyuga's wounds, looking ready to join in the battle while Hayasui prepared her flamethrower in order to roast the Abyssal.

Kawakaze and Hatsuharu were still working on trying to bring down the Princess's lower shield layer which protected the Abyssal from torpedoes, Unryuu doing the same to the Southern War Princess's upper shield with her bombers as Shigure tried to play a more active role in this, unloading her torpedoes in a narrow salvo to concentrate on breaking through her shield along with Kawakaze and Hatsuharu's salvo.

But the Southern War Princess was smarter than that, having been through many battles against various ship girls, and she must have kept track of the deadly destroyers and cruisers as she evaded them while using her strong legs to propel herself sideways at a speed that almost baffled Shigure, the Abyssal firing off torpedoes of her own in a large salvo to try and catch one of them.

The ship girls' torpedoes passed by harmlessly as they failed to even graze her shields while the ship girls scattered in order to evade the Abyssal's torpedo salvo, the Princess opening fire on the boosting ship girls to keep them at bay while her shields recovered, not allowing them the chance to get too close.

It didn't work as Maya, Kiso and Akitsu Maru came in fast, Ise covering them as her cannons blazed continuously and formed a consecutive sequence of large-caliber cannon fire that put the Southern War Princess on edge as she attempted to protect herself, Shigure trying to keep up with the battle as Akitsu Maru and Kiso's swords blurred, ready to draw blood from the enemy that was before them.

Shigure saw that the battle was moving in her direction, and Shigure started sailing away from the action as she saw that Akitsu Maru pulled the pin of a grenade that she produced from her bag with the middle finger of her occupied hand, which was holding her katana Kagutsuchi while Kiso distracted the Abyssal Princess with dual-wielded twin cannon fire.

Ise ran forwards while uncoupling her flight deck, preparing to throw it like a Frisbee and allow it to serve as yet another distraction as she shouted gleefully.

"Hey!

Catch!"

Flinging her flight deck with superhuman strength only achieved by the battleship-class, the Southern War Princess was forced to uncouple an arm from her weapon stack in order to catch the flung projectile to the surprise of Shigure, who assumed that the Abyssal Princess's weapons were fused to her arms.

But this was all within Ise's calculations as she leapt into the air as two 6 Inch shells were fired in her direction and hit her in her right kidney and gut, these shells unable to stop the aviation battleship from driving both her boat slippers into the Southern War Princess's gut, and catching her own flight deck as she gave an intense grin.

Bending her knees at a ninety degree angle and coiling her leg muscles while leaning forwards, she pushed off of her feet while snapping her back backwards and pulled her flight deck out of the hands of the Abyssal as though she were performing a backstroke start as the Southern War Princess coughed violently.

Ise was clearly having the time of her life, coasting through the air with the grace of a humpback whale breaching the surface of the ocean as she cheered,

"Wheeeee!"

Casting a titanic shadow over the spot of ocean which she hovered over while she arced her back, knowing that the Abyssal would still be reeling from the force of a battleship pushing off her stomach and was likely unable to aim straight immediately after as she got ready to perform a 10-point landing…

… Right beside a frozen and gawking Shigure, who was unable to pry her eyes off of the airborne aviation battleship as Ise's shadow eclipsed her tiny figure and finally realizing that the ship girl in the air, with her incredible displacement and heavy equipment, was going to have to land on the spot of ocean to the left of her, unable to close her gaping mouth in time to avoid swallowing a mouthful of seawater as she shrieked in surprise upon her world being shaken, albeit not by the enemy.

The saltiness of the seawater was drowned out by the freezing cold water being displaced and landing on Shigure's entire body, drenched head to toe as the ocean beneath her was disturbed by the battleship landing, Shigure struggling to keep upright amidst the staggering amount of seawater being thrown her way and was trying not to get thrown off her feet by the rough waves.

Blinking away the seawater from her eyes and trying to peek out the fringes of her hair which was stubbornly clinging to her forehead, she could see the feet of two ship girls coming up to her as she accepted their helping hands and noted the Southern War Princess's alternate form.

Her rigging had transformed, in a sense, the rigging now resembling demonic wings that hung from the Southern War Princess's shoulders, the casing that would contain her arms glowing an ominous red and giving the manic Princess a demonic glow behind her, her main cannons pointing backwards to prevent them from getting in the way of their master's hand movements and also to watch her back.

The Southern War Princess's left hand had on a monstrous jaw which was conspicuously missing from her wings, the duo of secondary cannons glowing as they remained on her hand like a demented version of Kawakaze's hand cannon, providing a lethal weapon to drive the ship girls back while they engaged in close-quarters combat.

Kiso was a blur as she sped around, almost leaving afterimages behind as she tried to pierce the skin of the Princess with her cutlass, something which Ise had no problem with as her katana swings possessed more power than speed.

Akitsu Maru was performing her Triple Fiery Impaling Strike, getting into the half-squatting stance before bursting forth and targeting the Princess's mouth and eyes with an increasing obsession with poking out the Princess's eye as her katana burst into blue, ghoulish flames,

It was apparent that vital organs like eyes were a natural weakness to exploit, and the Princess using her armored arms to block Akitsu Maru's burning strikes meant that Kiso and Ise had the chance to strike her with their katanas, for all the good it did.

But the Princess's shields finished repairing the damage, the trio retreating as an electric whir rang out and increased in pitch before the shields came back online, the time limit having expired as the ship girls made a tactical withdrawal.

The Southern War Princess's rigging was already transforming back, enveloping her clawed arms in a mechanical embrace as the Abyssal reflexively fired her torpedoes to grant herself some breathing room, her armor and shields coming in clutch to protect her from the brunt of the damage thus far.

And as the Princess reflexively fired off a 16 Inch shell, the large-caliber shell punched through Unryuu's left shoulder, cleanly separating the carrier's arm from her main body as the Unryuu-Class carrier stumbled back, her expression betraying her pain as her dead left arm hit the ocean hard, still clutching onto her conducting staff.

Shigure rushed over towards the bleeding carrier, worried that she was going to suffer the same fate as Hatsuzuki as she exclaimed.

"Unryuu-san!

Are you alright?!"

Unryuu shook her head in order to clear her mind, Shigure noting the sweat on her face as she suppressed the pain in order to retain her focus, and the fact that she was bleeding from the stump that was previously her left shoulder didn't help matters, and the carrier had lowered her head, knees bent as she took deep breaths and used her right hand to apply direct pressure to the injury.

Shigure's next comment,

"Y-You should retre-"

Was stuck in her throat as the Unryuu-Class carrier raised her head, shaking the sweat from her brows as she brushed past a frozen Shigure, walking over to her dismembered arm and stepping on it with the underside of her boat slipper, her eyes still lifeless and impersonal as she mentally suppressed and the sensation known as pain in order to keep fighting.

Shigure could only stand by quietly and watch as Unryuu knelt down and grabbed her conducting staff with her blood-soaked right hand, leaving her lifeless arm behind as the blood dripped down from her left shoulder and spilled onto the ocean, and the entire action aggravated her wound and caused the bleeding to temporarily increase in intensity.

The sundered arm was left to the elements as Unryuu turned her back on her own body part, and the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer was left to pick it up in lieu of the carrier, Shigure stuttering as she asked in a horrified tone.

"U-Unryuu-san?!

What about your a-arm?"

But her response was unsurprisingly chilling, the pale-hair carrier turning back as she revealed the sweat on her emotionless face and answered in an uncaring tone, since it was no longer a part of her body and was no longer her concern.

"Do with it what you will.

It is useless to me now."

She was left speechless as Unryuu turned her back on Shigure, who stood on the battlefield with Unryuu's sundered right arm in her hands, eventually coming to her senses and calling Akashi on the radio, asking her about whether the arm should be kept so that it could be reattached to Unryuu's shoulder.

"U-Um, Akashi-san!

Unryuu-san lost a limb, should I keep the dismembered limb so that we can reattach it later?"

She heard the repair ship ask someone on the other end of the line to apply pressure to a wound as an explosion heard by her own ears was present as an echo over the radio, before shifting her attention to Shigure, her tone detached and aloof as she explained and ordered.

"Drop it.

It's only going to slow you down in battle, and we can easily craft another arm for Unryuu back in the docks.

Just another perk of being a ship girl."

She blinked and nodded, noting that the dead arm was dropping in temperature and was dripping fuel and blood in a dull-red-brown mixture through its upper arm cross-section, dropping the cold arm in disgust as she shivered and turned back to the battle.

Kiso threw another torpedo at the Princess's shield, and since the Princess's bubble shield blocked incoming solid projectiles, the Southern War Princess visibly drew back from the resulting explosion as the torpedo detonated after hitting the surface of the shield, the explosion a small distance away from the Princess herself which helped to minimize the damage she sustained.

The Southern War Princess screamed, now extremely pissed off at how the 8th Fleet was utilizing unorthodox techniques to bypass her shields, since the middle layer of her shield was better-suited to defend her against point-target shell damage, not against torpedoes which deal an area-of-effect splash damage with their explosions.

[Stop...

STOP FIGHTING LIKE... NOT HOW SHIP GIRLS FIGHT!]

Hayasui threw a Molotov Cocktail in the direction of the hole in the bubble shield, since Kiso's thrown torpedo along with accumulated damage over the course of the past minute was wearing down her shields as they crumbled, the fleet oiler shouting in response as the bottle shattered on the Princess's pale skin.

"Hell no!

Fighting fair is for squares!"

The Southern War Princess screeched as her skin and hair caught on fire, the Abyssal Princess performing the 'Stop, Drop and Roll' maneuver as she submerged herself in the ocean, everyone shooting at her as she crash-dived in order to save herself lest she be consumed by the flames.

Her crash dive caused large waves to be produced as the flames were extinguished by the seawater, causing smoke to rise into the air as everyone ceased fire after seeing the Princess temporarily submerge in order to catch her bearings and rethink her strategy, Shigure paying extra attention to her sonar in order to find the Abyssal.

Ise covered the small crowd that was her sister Hyuga, Hatsuzuki and Akashi as Akitsu Maru reloaded her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun with what Shigure assumed to be normal shotgun 12 gauge shells, and Kawakaze asked the other destroyers on her fleet.

"Well then, Hatsuharu-san, Shigure-san, shall we?"

Hatsuharu nodded, and Shigure needed a second to decipher her sister's words, seeing the both of them dropping Anti-Submarine depth charges with their bare hands, since they didn't pack specialized Anti-Submarine depth charge launchers attached to their riggings and battle backpacks, but manually activating and dropping the Anti-Submarine depth charges is a riskier, albeit faster way of combating submarines.

Kawakaze, Hatsuharu and Shigure sailed around as they twisted the cap of the depth charges to correspond to the depth which they wanted the depth charge to float at with the help of the Fairies with their sonar, and pressed the cap to activate its Anti-Abyssal sensor and prime the explosive within it.

And as a small red LED light flashed for half a second to signal their activation, Shigure dropped the depth charge and sailed away so as to avoid getting caught in the explosion should the depth charge detonate.

The Princess performed evasive maneuvers on their sonar to avoid being detected by the depth charge sensors, eventually surfacing as Kawakaze and Shigure bolted away while firing torpedoes at the wet Princess.

Vibrant red waves danced across the bubble shield as the Princess shrieked,

[Shit!]

And unleashed everything she had, torpedoes and cannon shells fired everywhere in order to kill everyone.

Hatsuharu was almost hit by a large-caliber shell as one mechanical arm was cleanly sheared off by the incoming shell while she flung herself onto the ocean, while Akitsu Maru strafed and performed a desperate barrel roll in order to evade several torpedoes.

Hyuga, who had recovered enough to at least perform support shelling, joined her sister in laying down cover fire to break the Southern War Princess's shields again, a boost- dodging Kawakaze flinging her own torpedoes while Kiso sniped them down with her crack shot abilities to shatter a few more hexagonal plates.

Maya charged in, brandishing her right fist as she used the main cannons on her rigging to weaken the holographic plate before smashing it in with her gloved fist, connecting with the Abyssal's right cheek and causing her to stumble, Maya continuing on her streak as she clamped her hands together and brought them up.

"Mind your head!"

And smashed it down on the back of the Princess's head, causing her to hit the floor while Ise moved in, asking as the Southern War Princess uncoupled her arms to try and fend off the tag-team physical attack.

"Maya-chan, Hyuga's a little injured, so you mind if I partner up with you to do that?"

"No problem, let's do this!"

Maya and Ise dragged the Princess back to her feet and tucked their heads underneath the Princess's arm as they threw her armored arms over their shoulders, ignoring the inconsequential Anti-Air fire directed at them from the Princess's weapons stacks as they reached over towards the opposing shoulder and hooked an arm around the Princess's ample chest.

They placed their free arm on the Southern War Princess's back, flexing both their arms in order to lift the Abyssal aviation battleship, before the both of them fell forwards and performed a two-man Rock Bottom side slam, throwing up waves of seawater due to the displacement of the three of them combined hitting the ocean at once.

The duo scrambled away as the Princess coughed violently and tried to get back up, her submerged cannon stacks gargling on seawater as they tried to protect their master who was in a supine position on the ocean surface and was rolling over in order to try and get back on her feet, in a crawling position as Unryuu ran towards the Princess's head and performed a small skip when she got close enough.

The Unryuu-Class carrier placed her foot on the back of the Southern War Princess's head and put her weight behind her armored leg, forcing the Abyssal's head back down into the ocean in a savage Curb Stomp, the element of surprise ensuring her move's success.

The Abyssal's voice was drowned out by the seawater entering her face, the ocean around her face bubbling as she exclaimed.

[AAARRABBLARGGHH-]

Akashi shouted enthusiastically,

"She's down!

Get her!"

A few of the 8th Fleet members charged at her while she was down, Shigure gawking as Akitsu Maru wildly swung her flaming sword down at the fallen Princess, Akashi lifting her right boat slipper and stomping down on her left knee, Kiso pulling out both her cannons and shooting the Abyssal Princess in the dome of her skull, unfortunately bouncing off of her steel skull as it was reinforced to minimize the chances that a head-shot would one-hit kill her.

Kawakaze held out a hand to stop Shigure from trying to stop the 8th Fleet as she commented on how the 8th Fleet operated out on the field.

"Maa, don't try to stop them, Aneki.

Get ready to launch your torpedoes when the 8th Fleet pulls back."

Noting that Hatsuharu was also preparing to do the same while Hayasui was angling herself so that she wouldn't be in the way of the ship girl torpedoes and the Princess, while Unryuu was summoning more bomber planes in order to prepare for the follow-up attack, Shigure nodded as her torpedo launchers armed the torpedoes within them.

The Southern War Princess's aura flared up menacingly and instilled a wave of unadulterated fear in her assailants, screaming in a blind rage and forcing everyone off of her.

[GET OFF OF ME, YOU DEGENERATES!

I'LL KILL YOU ALL!]

Akitsu Maru remarked about how Kiso failed to kill the Abyssal Princess even after she shot her in her head, the amphibious assault ship holstering her katana Kagutsuchi while retreating.

"Oh my fucking god, how the fuck didn't you cap the bitch?!

Fucking kill yourself!"

Kiso shouted back at the IJA ship girl while holstering both her 14 Cm Single Gun Cannons, obviously also incensed about failing to kill the Southern War Princess with her cannons.

"Hey, piss off, man!

It's the thought that counts!"

The three destroyers of the backup fleet launched their torpedoes, and Hayasui moved in while she produced a flash-bang that she likely got from Akitsu Maru before this and throwing it in the Abyssal's face, stunning her and softening her up enough for Hayasui to shift her flamethrower onto both her hands as she lit up the lighter on the end of the nozzle and fired the fuel jet at the Princess.

Shigure had to shield her eyes as she saw the fuel jet ignite and burn the Abyssal Princess, the Southern War Princess shrieking as the flames engulfed her, Unryuu coordinating her torpedo and dive bombers to drop their payloads and time it with Hayasui's assault and the destroyer's torpedo salvo, injuring the Southern War Princess in a large series of deafening explosions, and Shigure had to shut her eyes in order not to get overwhelmed by the incandescent glow of the resulting fireball.

Several ship girls cheered and hooted as the Southern War Princess scrambled underwater, Ise mocking in a faux-thuggish voice,

"Yeah, you better run!"

While Hatsuharu reminded her about how the Princess was likely going sail around in wait before striking again, and wasn't going to be scared off so easily after being given a pep talk courtesy of Kiso.

"Please, Ise-san.

The Abyssal Princess does not seem to be the kind of person to run away from mere auxiliary ships, especially after that heated exchange with Kiso-san.

And retreating after her entire fleet was decimated by the infamous 8th Fleet would tarnish her record and destroy her reputation for life.

Forgive the language, but she needs to pull a victory out of her posterior to recover from this situation, and despite us vastly outnumbering her, it's debatable as to whether we can actually win this battle."

Ise cocked her head as she lifted an eyebrow in agreement, and Shigure could see an Abyssal signature disappear as it submerged beneath the range of her sonar, likely to evade detection as she recovered while Kawakaze, Hatsuharu and Shigure continued to drop depth charges, and Maya even chipped in since she was a heavy cruiser and also possessed some depth charges of her own.

Kawakaze was commenting on how they were cornering the Abyssal Princess with their depth charges, dropping them at strategic locations so as to make sure that she kept the Abyssal Princess on the move.

"Woo!

We've got her on the run now, Shigure!

Abyssals don't like depth charges very much, since they can easily be killed by the resulting pressure wave, so keep dropping them and we'll either flush her out or scare her off soon enough!"

Shigure nodded, understanding that air was a compressible medium when compared to water, and the underwater denizens were right to fear underwater explosions, which were deadlier than airborne explosions since unlike air, water was an excellent conductor of pressure waves which could potentially damage their internal organs when they were submerged underwater.

The Abyssal Southern War Princess was performing evasive maneuvers so as to avoid getting picked up by the Anti-Abyssal sensors within the Anti-submarine depth charges and causing them to detonate the explosives within, and Shigure knew that deep underwater, while they couldn't fire at the Abyssals since they were underwater, the Abyssals also couldn't fire at them since cannons didn't work underwater.

Kiso noted,

"She's coming back up!

Get ready, girls!"

Ise uncoupled a battleship cannon from her rigging while Hayasui retreated and allowed Akitsu Maru to take her place on the front lines.

The Southern War Princess emerged cannons blazing while her body tried to repair the burn damage as best it could, her large-caliber cannons shaking the very air around them while everyone performed evasive maneuvers, Kiso and Kawakaze unloading their torpedoes simultaneously in order to force the Princess's hand.

The Southern War Princess grunted as she heaved and pulled her weapon stacks around in order to evade the underwater projectiles, Shigure noting that Ise and Akitsu Maru charged her with weapons in hand.

Her shields blocked the aviation battleship's shells as Ise's shells were fired from her rigging, Akitsu Maru adding to the barrage of cannon-fire by slipping out her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun and firing it in the Princess's direction, and smoothly transitioning from shotgun to katana as she wielded Kagutsuchi in a reverse grip, stabbing it into a gap in between the red hexagonal plates as they began to disappear.

Shigure fired her cannons in order to provide some form of distraction and to wear down the shield, and Hatsuharu's delayed firing of her torpedoes meant that she could home in on the Southern War Princess after she evaded Kiso and Kawakaze's torpedo salvo.

The Southern War Princess grunted as Hatsuharu's salvo hit home and threw up seawater as she tried to fire a large-caliber cannon at the Kai Ni destroyer who was boosting away, Shigure hearing a barely audible,

[Shit, fucking-]

But Ise boost dodged in order to evade a large-caliber barrel pointed in her direction, utilizing her speed to spin around in a counterclockwise direction and using her left leg to perform a spinning rear kick to the Princess's shield, heavily cracking it while Akitsu Maru ripped her katana out and sliced into a hexagonal plate while the Southern War Princess stumbled back from the attack.

Kiso appeared behind Ise, airborne after performing a giant leap as she utilized her boost gauge in mid-air to boost forward and transition from a running jump into a flying torpedo spin, shouting,

"Flying Thunder God!"

Slicing through the Princess's compromised shields in a fraction of a second, Kiso cleanly evaded the Princess's shells as she managed to break the skin of the Abyssal Princess, causing the shocked Princess to exclaim,

[You bitch!

How the hell did you-]

But Ise took this chance to charge forward and attack her along with Akitsu Maru and Maya joining the fray as Kiso boosted away while flashing her searchlight eye in her face and firing a few torpedoes at point-blank range, shattering the Princess's underwater torpedo shields as she passed through the insides on the shield since the Abyssal shield prevented things from entering, not exiting.

Ise came in roaring, brandishing her battleship cannon and wielding it like a baseball bat, clenching a barrel in one hand as she brought it down on the Southern War Princess's head with a vengeance, causing the Abyssal's head to be forcefully displaced as the armor of the battleship cannon crumpled, since both their armor were equally matched and were thus both damaged by the attack.

[GRRAAAGGHHH!

What the hell was tha-]

The pressure never let up for a second as Maya flexed her muscled arm before delivering one hell of a right hook and shouting,

"SHUT-THE-FUCK-UP PUNCH!"

And caused the Princess to stagger back while Akitsu Maru got into a crouching stance and performed a Lone Fiery Impaling Strike into the Abyssal's wounded gut, Ise using her flight deck and her own body to tank the large-caliber shells fired out from the dark 16 inch cannons pointed their way, Unryuu's planes still hard at work in trying to break the Abyssal's upper shields.

The Southern War Princess, now enraged, roared as she kicked Maya in the abdomen and sent her flying, fired two medium caliber shells at her and threatening her with a large-caliber barrel to get her to retreat, and sent out four Abyssal Fighter Mark 2 planes in order to even the odds in the air, uncoupling her arms from her cannons stacks to free up her arms as she did so.

Akitsu Maru then shouted to Kiso in a gleeful tone, as though expecting something.

"Yo, Kiso-chan!

Wanna do that thing we've being practicing for a while now?"

Kiso was incredulous as she sheathed her cutlass, her torpedo launchers hard at work in trying to reload as she brought out her two 14 Cm cannons, watching the Southern War Princess evade torpedo salvos and catching large-caliber shells fired from Ise and Hyuga's cannons, even forcefully throwing them back at the slower ship girls in the 8th Fleet and forcing them to evade as Kiso retorted.

"Are you serious?!

Right here?"

An enthusiastic nod from the amphibious assault ship was all the torpedo cruiser got as a response, sighing as her searchlight eye was now a pale glow in the dark, Kiso turning down the intensity after the star shell had long dropped into the ocean and left the ocean in darkness so as not to stun her own teammates with its glare as she responded while breaking into a run.

"Fine!

But I'll be on top this time, alright?!"

Shigure could only watch as Akitsu Maru stored all her weapons and did the same, sprinting and evading enemy fire as she cheerily replied.

"Alright!"

And running towards the Southern War Princess while meeting up halfway, Shigure was firing her Anti-Air cannons at the airborne Abyssal Fighter Mark 2 planes as Akitsu Maru seemingly slipped, her boat slippers now pointing towards the night sky as she was now in a crouching position with her back on the ocean surface.

But what surprised Shigure was how the torpedo cruiser jumped atop Akitsu Maru's boat slippers, also in a similar crouching position as she readied her two medium-caliber cannons while Akitsu Maru manically called out with a lyrical pitch at the end.

"Liftoff!"

The both of them extended their legs and pushed off the other's boat slippers, Kiso now soaring into the air towards unheard-of heights as everyone was enchanted by the sight, even the sentient Abyssal Fighter Planes and the Southern War Princess herself, Kiso putting a lot of spin into her jump as she flipped forwards, firing her two 14 Cm cannons everywhere as she hit every Abyssal plane in the vicinity.

The planes were destroyed instantly, since they were never meant to hold up against medium caliber warship shells as they easily punched through the dark shells of the Abyssal Fighter Mark 2 planes, Kiso also taking the chance to drop her Type 93 oxygen torpedoes on the Abyssal Princess's upper shields.

Letting gravity do the job as Unryuu's planes allowed Kiso a large area to try and land so as not to get caught by a stray limb smacking them out of the sky, the Southern War Princess shrieking in surprise as the torpedo detonations utterly annihilated her upper shields and caused the Abyssal to stumble about, since any damage inflicted on the shields could be felt by her, albeit as a softened force after the shields absorbed the brunt of the impact.

Shigure could see that a recovered Maya was getting up while Kiso landed on the ocean surface, and the Kai Ni heavy cruiser began charging towards the Abyssal Princess in order to perform a drop kick on her.

But the Princess was tougher than the duo thought, and Maya was caught off guard when the Southern War Princess grabbed both her feet while she was in mid-air and spun around at an alarming speed, throwing her towards Kiso who was aiming her two 14 Cm cannons at the Abyssal's back, causing them to collide as the Princess aimed a large-caliber cannon at them and fired unceremoniously, the duo disappearing behind an explosion of water and fuel.

Shigure could hear Hatsuharu breaking character as she shouted uncharacteristically, genuinely concerned about her teammate as her expression morphed into one wracked with concern.

"Maya!"

Shigure pulled out her 12 Cm single gun cannon in order to fire at the Abyssal's head in a slight fit of rage, Akitsu Maru, Akashi, Ise, Kawakaze and Hayasui all moving in after the Princess was occupied with dealing with Maya and Kiso, Kawakaze throwing a torpedo and hitting her newly reactivated shield, distracting the Southern War Princess long enough for everyone to chip in with all the firepower they had while Akashi sailed around the Princess to check up on the fallen duo.

The Southern War Princess fired everywhere, trying to hit someone as she endured all the firepower which was directed at her and returned in kind, Shigure evading everything while everyone wore the shields down with everything they had on hand, the Southern War Princess engulfed by another burst of flames courtesy of Hayasui while everyone withdrew, since her shields couldn't block liquid-based attacks.

Shigure could see that the Abyssal Princess was mostly engulfed in burns and was now on the ropes due to the amount of damage she was taking, and even though those burns may look superficial, the potential damage they could cause internally were another matter, since they wore the Abyssal down with damage-over-time and couldn't be blocked by conventional means

Akashi swung her steel hook around menacingly before throwing it in the direction of the Abyssal, catching her around her upper left arm as it decreased in length while it winded around her pale arm, the Southern War Princess noticing it and attempting to pull the repair ship towards her cannons.

But Ise was already on the scene, a big smirk on her face as she had both her hands on the steel wire and boomed.

"Heave!"

Caught off guard, the Abyssal stumbled back as her entire arm was pulled backwards, opening her up for an attack from Kawakaze and Akitsu Maru, the two clumsily-fired 16 Inch shells in their direction unable to deter them from their charge as Kawakaze high-jumped and planted her boat slippers onto the Southern War Princess's face, forming a squatting motion before performing a back flip while launching herself off of the Southern War Princess and emptying her boost in the Abyssal's face, Akitsu Maru holding her katana with both hands as she grunted and slashed horizontally in a clean yet vicious manner.

Cutting into the stomach of the Abyssal while causing her katana to catch on fire, Akitsu Maru's fierce scream to boost her spirit was intermixed with the Southern War Princess's scream of agony, and the Abyssal punched the ocean in an attempt to catch the two retreating ship girls, and would have been successful if not for Shigure and Kawakaze shooting her in the face with their 12 Cm Single Gun cannons to distract her long enough for them to escape and for Ise to retrieve Akashi's steel hook, while Unryuu's fighter planes shot at her from the sky to cover their escape.

The Southern War Princess was weakening considerably, her head bleeding and her guts disemboweled as her body tried to repair the damage caused to it, and Shigure winced as the Southern War Princess was breathing heavily, trying not to stumble after taking so much damage while everyone kept their distance, now looking much like a pack of wolves cornering a wounded bull.

Akashi shouted questioningly in order to ask the Southern War Princess about the possibility of ending this conflict peacefully, or at least as peacefully as they could after attempting to take each other's life.

"Y'know, it ain't normal for us to ask, but do you wish to surrender?"

The Southern War Princess grimaced as she replied defiantly, ready to fight to the death rather than take a step backwards out of cowardice.

[Screw you all!

I ain't retreating, and you'll have to kill me to stop me from making it to the Japanese shore to wreck havoc on those wretched humans!]

Akitsu Maru sneered, asking about why the Southern War Princess was rebelling as she partially agreed with the Princess's view of mankind.

"Y'know, I kinda agree with the fact that humans are squabbling idiots who aren't really worth our effort and time, but really, I don't think you're that stupid to sail right into the Safety Zone and try to take on all the ship girls of Japan with only five fleets, so what gives?

You got a death wish?"

Smirking and trying to blink in order to prevent her blood from entering her crimson-colored eyes as she promised.

[Well, fuck, I hate the new bosses who are in charge, but I ain't no snitch!

You're gonna have to beat the information out of me, whore!]

A shadow shot up from behind the Southern War Princess, and the Abyssal spun around in time to see a partially damaged Kiso burst forwards with the help of her boost gauge, performing a spinning cut on the Southern War Princess, who felt her presence soon enough to turn back and partially evade the attack which was aimed at the nape of her neck, Shigure detecting blood being drawn by Kiso's cutlass as the torpedo cruiser landed behind the Abyssal after performing a Flying Thunder God technique.

Taking a look at Kiso and Maya was all that was needed to see that they weren't in good shape, Maya being worse off than Kiso as her bloody and bruised right arm hung uselessly while Maya was panting and sweating heavily with several broken bones and ribs causing blueish-black swollen flesh to plague her body, having body-blocked the large-caliber shell for Kiso and paid the price in blood as her green uniform seemingly changed color, likely unable to fight on the front lines for the remainder of this battle.

Kiso looked a little better in that regard as her uniform was mostly intact, one torpedo launcher taken out of action while her shredded cape fluttered in the wind, Kiso's battle aura flaring up even more despite sustaining what bordered on medium damage, smiling wickedly as she turned around to address the Princess, her glowing eye now increasing in luminosity as she remarked in a faux congratulatory tone.

"Wow, good job evading that.

You know, I was aiming for your neck like I promised, so if you hadn't dodged that in time, your head would have rolled for sure."

The Abyssal Princess, now breathing heavily from some kind of wound she sustained, turned back to address Kiso in a livid tone as she revealed the bloody gash running diagonally down her face from her right temple to left cheek and was bathing her face in blood, clearly not expecting the damaged torpedo cruiser to still be able to hurt her to such an extent.

[How the hell are you able to able to hurt me this much, despite taking so much damage?!

You couldn't cut through my Steel Skin at the start of the battle, so how?

And aren't you torpedo cruisers capable of high damage output, but get taken out of battle if someone so much as sneezes in your direction?!]

Kiso flicked her hair to one side, using her free hand to wipe the blood and sweat from her brow as she responded coolly.

"Well, I just got used to the thickness of your armor, and figured out the amount of strength to put into my strikes and at what angle I had to approach in order to cut through it effectively.

And you know.

Maybe the fact that I'm still standing means you might not be as good as you think you are.

I'm just saying."

The Southern War Princess growled in unison with her weapon stacks, all her cannons twitching aggressively as they itched to take a shot at the cocky torpedo cruiser, the Abyssal threatening with a bloodthirsty expression that yearned for her head on a pike.

[You bitch...]

Kiso turning to face her adversary, raising her arms in a confident shrug as she mocked, the Abyssal Princess's vengeful red aura flaring up upon witnessing her confidence in her odds of winning.

"Well, I learnt how to cut through your armor.

You might as well drop your weapons and start praying to your dark gods for a divine intervention,"

Kiso's eyes dulled, and even her searchlight eye seemed to dim as Kiso's demeanor changed from cocky to mirroring the Abyssal Princess's homicidal aura, gripping her cutlass a little tighter as she leaned in menacingly in order to finish her sentence.

"Because you're gonna need it."

The Southern War Princess scowled as she brandished her weapon stacks and responded in a confrontational manner, opening fire upon them as she shouted back.

[Well, I ain't praying to anyone other than me!

Like I said before, you'll have to beat the information out of me, bitch!]

And amidst all the evasive moves performed to dodge the incoming cannon shells and torpedoes, Shigure could make out Kiso coolly answering before leaping into the air.

"Just the way I like it..."

And performed yet another Flying Thunder God just as the Princess herself managed to uncouple her armored right arm in order to partially shield herself from the incoming blade.

It somewhat succeeded as Kiso's blade still managed to cut through the dark armor which cocooned her right arm, but couldn't pierce through it to injure the Abyssal's arm, since her armor acted as a buffer against Kiso's Anti-Abyssal cutlass and did its job.

The reason why the Princess's shield hadn't yet recovered was because, like the Admiral said, a Princess's shields would recover after three minutes, but since they destroyed all three layers of her shields, the energy needed to restore them back to working order had to be distributed over the three layers, and extended the time taken to bring these shields back up to six minutes.

Ise fired her cannons in order to bring her down for good, and the Southern War Princess tried to evade her shells and returned in kind, Akitsu Maru, Akashi, Kiso and Hayasui moving in to take her down as Unryuu sent her dive bombers in to soften her defenses for them.

And as powerful as the Southern War Princess's 16 Inch cannons were, they were slow and unwieldy against the girls of the 8th Fleet, who utilized their physical strength and boost gauges instead of their mediocre boat slippers' slow top speed to blitz around, Akashi and Akitsu Maru both scoring hits with their scalpels and katana respectively, Akashi slicing into the Princess's calf muscle before boosting away while Hayasui covered her escape with a stream of flaming fuel to make the Princess hold off on retaliating.

Akitsu Maru kept swinging her burning katana Kagutsuchi wildly around before stabbing it into a gap in the Princess's weapon stack, causing something to catch on fire since the force spread over such a small area meant that it would likely penetrate deeper than a slicing motion, Akitsu Maru evading in time to avoid an internal explosion that engulfed the weapon in flames, comprising the Abyssal Princess's cannons.

And it was at that moment, when Maya and Ise laid cover for them, when the shield happened to come back online, Shigure emptying her cannons and launching all her torpedoes in the direction of the Princess, who was now stumbling around and was starting to mumble incoherently.

[Goddamn...

Every one of you all... gonna fucking die...

I won't... be defeated... again...]

Shigure was starting to feel bad for the Southern War Princess, but she steeled her heart and kept on firing, because she understood her priorities and knew that the Abyssal Princesss had to be sunk, simply because it was their objective as soldiers in a war.

Akashi pulled out from her rigging and activated a strange grenade which Shigure couldn't immediately identify, throwing it while warning everyone nearby,

"EMP grenade, incoming!"

Seeing how everyone visibly prepared themselves for the incoming blast confused Shigure before the grenade detonated, throwing Shigure's mind into disarray as her HUD warped and dissolved into static before recovering over a period of twenty seconds, causing the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer to crumple onto the ocean as she suddenly felt very sick, since their bodies ran on electricity and it was now disrupted by the electromagnetic wave hitting her like a ton of bricks.

As she resisted the urge to vomit upon feeling the world spin around her in her mind, she could notice the shields of the Princess flickering in and out of existence out of the corner of her eye as she heard someone shout accusingly, the sting of the EMP still fresh in her voice as she croaked.

"Couldn't you have used that a little earlier to help us gain a decisive advantage, fucking bitch?!"

That was all she needed to determine that the voice probably belonged to someone from the 8th Fleet, Akashi retorting.

"Well, this here's classified technology, so I had to use it in order to secure our victory.

If she were to run away after I used it earlier, it'd be a problem if knowledge of this weapon were leaked, wouldn't it?"

The voice clicked its tongue, Shigure now feeling the world coming back into focus as her HUD sharpened and displayed her status again, the static in her mind dissipating as her thoughts cleared, shakily raising her cannon to fire her 12 Cm Single Barrel cannon at the Princess's recovering shields.

Ise firing all her cannons at the shield was the last straw for the weakening Abyssal as the wound Akashi inflicted on the Princess's left calf muscle was taking its toll, the wound now agitated as Ise's cannon fire impacting her shields threw her forwards as she collapsed onto the ocean, with her right knee on the ocean as she leaned over while gasping in an exhausted manner.

But Ise didn't stop there.

Shigure was horrified as Ise smashed a hexagonal plate on her shield in with her boat slipper and a quick-boost to damage it before body-slamming it to enter the point-blank range of the Southern War Princess, raising her unsheathed katana and holding it with both hands as she brought it down on the Princess, who was already turning around and was raising her left arm to fire at the aviation battleship.

A 16 Inch shell was emptied into Ise's stomach while the Ise-Class aviation battleship screamed an unholy battle cry with a crazed smile on her bloody face, slashing down at the arm of the Southern War Princess, cutting through steel bone and sundering her left arm, Shigure watching on as the Princess's missing arm spurted out blood like a fire hose on full blast before her internal valves kicked in.

Ise stumbled back, coughing as the injury of the point-blank 16 Inch shell being fired into her stomach took its toll, a dark red stain propagating on her miko uniform as Shigure hesitated to get close in order to check up on Ise's injury because,

One, she wasn't a repair ship and couldn't help fix Ise's injury.

Two, the Southern War Princess might seize this chance to take her hostage since she was admittedly the weakest link amidst the ship girls present, and she didn't want to jeopardize their chances of victory when they were this close to winning.

Three, she could feel the aftershocks of the EMP on her systems, and Shigure's reflexes were still rather sluggish since she was an unremodeled ship girl, and she knew that even a glancing blow from a well-aimed (or lucky) 16 inch shell could easily sink her.

Flicking the alien Abyssal blood off of her katana, Ise was shivering as she shakily sheathed her katana, even coughing out some blood as she pointed all her cannons at her to make sure that she could put the Abyssal down if she tried to do anything funny, everyone slowly surrounding her as they pointed their weapons at the defeated Southern War Princess.

The Abyssal, upon seeing the battle conclude in her defeat, she seemed to deflate as her fighting spirit went out of her, allowing the fatigue to take its toll after suffering intense second, third and even a few fourth degree burn wounds, lacerations and slash wounds crisscrossing her body and disfiguring her face courtesy of Kiso, and she was missing an arm after Ise severed her upper left arm and halved her firepower.

The Abyssal was breathing heavily, her shaky breath complementing the tears of pain that streaked down her shaky scowl as Akashi pulled out some sort of toy gun with a vial where the hammer was supposed to be and the barrel was replaced with a syringe, some sort of internal mechanism powering up as the repair ship roughly pulled the Southern War Princess by her right ponytail, plunged the syringe near the nape of her neck where her rigging connected to her neural network in order to quickly receive orders, and pulled the trigger.

An explosive hiss interrupted the lull in the combat, the Southern War Princess shrieking upon feeling the vial being injected into her bloodstream as she feebly tried to wriggle out of Akashi's attempt to tie her steel hook and cable around her remaining arm in order to ensure that the Abyssal didn't escape into the ocean, Ise moving up and grabbing hold of the makeshift leash that tethered the Southern War Princess to the surface of the ocean.

[Jesus, fucking... shit!

I ain't fighting back, so ease the fuck up, alright?!]

Akitsu Maru was trying to refrain from laughing as she pumped her Benelli M3 Super 90 shotgun, pointing it down at the head of the fallen Princess as she retorted.

"Nah, this is just to make sure that you don't activate that 'suicide' program and kill yourself before you answer our questions.

We also sure as hell don't want you crash diving back into the ocean and slipping out of our grasp, and to my knowledge, that's called 'Not being an idiot'.

So shut up and start talking."

Shigure could see the logic in their actions, but still flinched at how coldly they treated their enemies, not explicitly cruel, but without a trace of warmth or leniency in them, Akashi asking the first question.

"Let's start with some easy questions, shall we?

What is 'Apocalypse'?

Is it the plans for another major land assault?"

The Southern War Princess breathed heavily for a bit, before shaking her head and answering shakily.

[You're right.

We've been preparing for this since...

For about a decade; God, I thought my software was updated with protection against this suicide jamming vial?]

Akashi shook her head as she leaned in and explained.

"We gave you all the Mark l version of the vial, what I used on you was the Mark ll, an improved version.

War is also a technological race, and right now-"

[You're losing.]

Everyone's breath stopped as they allowed the Princess to explain herself, the Abyssal's advanced repair systems trying to stabilize her condition and bring the blood flowing from her gut, right arm and her face under control as she spoke.

[You really thought that we were gonna sit around, dwindle our arms and hope that ocean superiority alone is gonna help us conquer all of Earth and wipe out those blasted humans?

Fuck no.

We were so fucking worried that you all knew what were doing behind your backs, but turns out, you're just as ignorant about things as I am, as much as I hate to admit it.

And I suppose... in a sense, you made me feel something other than overwhelming hatred for those shitheads you're protecting.]

Akashi blinked, her eyes sharpening as she flicked her right hand and pulled out a curved knife which resembled a giant claw along with a curved handle and a ring at the end, fitting the steel ring around her right index finger as she spun the karambit around slowly and walked behind the Princess.

Before she grabbed the karambit by the handle, utilizing the sharp edge of her blade to press against the Southern War Princess's throat, pulling it up and threatening to slit her throat as she asked.

"And what might that be?"

Cue a snarky response from the Princess while looking up at a no-nonsense Akashi.

[Pity.]

Akashi raised an eyebrow as she shot Kiso and Akitsu Maru a look, uttering a simple hmm before continuing.

"Next question.

2013, 5 of May, 1050 hours.

You were testing a weapon on the abandoned Wotje Island, which was part of the French Polynesia, in the Pacific Ocean.

You wiped out the island, likely in an attempt to erase all the evidence of the weapons test along with it.

What were you testing?"

The Abyssal Princess grunted as she lifted her neck so as not to allow the karambit to slowly but surely cut into her flesh, wracking her mind in order to remember something in the recesses of her mind as she eventually answered.

[Railgun.]

The 8th Fleet looked at each other, contemplating possibilities as Akashi prodded.

"What for?

Using them in war is fine and dandy, but it'd be safe to assume that you have it installed on the Flying Dutchman as its ace in the hole, right?"

The last thing any one of them expected was for the Abyssal Princess to suddenly burst out into laughter, the ax-crazy side to her surfacing as she laughed in the face of all the cannons, firearms and weapons pointed at her, her smile stretching from cheek to cheek as some of the life came back to her eyes, cackling madly as she mocked.

[Oh, that's just hilarious!

Did you think we were at your level, content to allow our railguns to sit on large warships and fire them occasionally like goddamn trebuchets?!

Hell no!]

Shaking her head and causing her long fringe to swing from side to side, Shigure was transfixed by the sight of the Abyssal Princess looking physically defeated in this battle, yet looking more confident about winning the war.

[I heard talks about them upgrading it and reducing its weight so much so that they could mount it on a tank to serve as a tank destroyer, last I heard.

Or was it a bunker buster?

I'm sorry, I often sleep through these progress update reports.]

Another series of concerned looks was shared between everyone, and Shigure could see that despite everyone seeing the need to keep silent for the duration of the operation, she could see that they were all shaken up by the series of revelations that were coming out of the Princess's mouth.

Akashi's eyes narrowed, and she gripped her karambit a little tighter as she asked another question, understanding that they were working against the clock since the Abyssal's 'immune system' which defended it against hacks and viruses was already active and was trying to purge Akashi's Mark ll virus from its system to allow the Abyssal to kill herself.

"Next question, why did you rebel and head for the Japanese mainland?

Don't you fear the wrath of your superiors, call-sign 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac'?"

This was where the Southern War Princess reacted unexpectedly again, her expressive face now morphing into one of shock and even a bit of admiration, commenting.

[Well, now.

Looks like your intelligence isn't completely shit... heh.

I didn't care anymore, y'see.]

Inhaling sharply in pain, the Southern War Princess looked rather bitter about something or another as she continued on a slight rant on her superiors, and how she wanted to royally piss them off with everything she had.

[New management came in, and drastically changed everything.

Convinced those who were even higher up the food chain that we needed to prepare for a real land invasion this time, and subsequently, a World War.

They got what they wanted, and they were researching and mass-producing new Abyssal units and weapons for almost an entire decade, but only recently did they ramp up their production rate.

The problem...]

Now seething mad, the Abyssal spoke through gritted teeth as her battle aura flared up while she was unknowingly talking herself into a fervor, Shigure, Ise, Kiso and Akitsu Maru all tightening their hold on their respective weapons as the Princess continued.

[...is that they started shifting the focus onto them instead of us Princesses three years ago, and that was when 'Superstar and Brainiac' started using their ranks as Secretary and Commander-in-Chief to actively boss us Princesses around, despite being fucking light cruisers!]

Shigure could feel the Princess's aura flare up menacingly upon talking about her superiors, and there was no love lost there since the Abyssal Princess clearly hated being bossed around by someone who was clearly of a weaker ship class than her.

But something to note was how they managed to lead the entire Abyssal invasion, and if they were clearly weaker than the Abyssal Princesses or weren't competent enough at doing their jobs, more disgruntled Princesses would have rebelled far earlier, and wouldn't have waited this long to act out.

This might mean that the Abyssal light cruiser commanders were actually great at their jobs, and the Southern War Princess possibly acted out of jealousy after seeing the resounding success of the Flying Dutchman at the Battle of Mikura Jima island and tried to strike out on her own.

Akashi's brows furrowed after seeing the Abyssal get agitated by her own words, pressing the blade against her pale, slender neck as she pushed on, despite everyone looking as though they wanted to bombard the Southern War Princes with questions of their own.

"Last question. This is the important one."

Going off on a slight tangent, the repair ship explained herself.

"This is about your superiors, 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac'.

You said that they were light cruisers, but assuming that most Abyssal light cruisers don't possess the ability to communicate verbally, this would make giving orders a little more difficult in real life and complicate matters.

And considering the resentment in the tone in which you regard them with and the lengths you go to in order to rebel against them and expose their plans to the enemy indicates a lack of allegiance, which, by my analysis of your personality, would be highly unlikely if they were an Abyssal Ho-Class or Tsu-Class light cruiser.

Thus, it would stand to reason that they may be Abyssalized ship girls, and them being granted so much power over you all and ordering you around despite previously being the enemy was likely what sent you over the edge."

Akashi's crimson aura flared up as her eyes dulled and her expression hardened, showing absolutely no qualms about slitting the Abyssal's throat should she fail to answer this question.

"Here's my question.

Who are they?"

A look of slight surprise was what greeted Akashi, as the Abyssal Princess looked rather surprised at how they didn't already know who 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac' were, responding incredulously.

[Seriously?

And here I was starting to respect your intelligence-gathering capabilities.

I thought you would have known who they were, since they said several times that they were from your base.]

Everyone's eyes widened as the Abyssal confirmed their suspicions, exposing the true identities of her hated superiors.

['Superstar' is Sakawa of the Agano-Class light cruisers.

'Brainiac' is Yuubari of the Yuubari-Class light cruisers, and the both of them were previously from Yokosuka.]

Kiso interjected this time, pressing her cutlass to the Abyssal's throat as her expression darkened, clearly expressing repressed sentiment and the agony possibly because she knew the duo personally, bluntly asking.

"How do we know you aren't lying?

You promised that you'd tell us what you know if we defeated you, but there's always the chance that you may be bullshitting us, you know?"

And the Abyssal did her best to contain her laughter as she pointed out things from her point of view.

[You really...he he...

You really think I need to lie about this crap?!

There's no longer any need to lie, bitch, because we're already done with preparations!

You're the ones who have your guns and knives to my throat, and I fucking hate my bosses, you really think I'm in the mood for lying?]

Nodding downwards to motion to her chest with her chin, the Southern War Princess looked down at her cleavage as she provided one example.

[Look, the Sakawa from your base had a shell punched clean through her chest which sank her, right?

Well, as Secretary, I remember the fact that she had a bright circular device in her chest to power her body, so how's that for fucking proof?!]

Akashi's expression was now entirely devoid of humanity as she leaned in, a shadow cast over her empty eyes as she prodded.

"So why wait for us to play catch-up?

Why not kill us in a single, devastating global offensive campaign, and instead send the Flying Dutchman out to Mikura Jima Island, only to tip your hand in the process?"

Looking up at Akashi, her response was aloof considering the situation she was in, Shigure shivering at how both the interrogator and interrogated were discussing about things which would change the world, and how intense her friend looked after the names of code-name 'Superstar' and 'Brainiac' were revealed to be Sakawa and Yuubari, likely suggesting a history with either one of them, or both.

[I suppose it's because of our confidence in ourselves.

Yuubari's pet project, the Flying Dutchman, was used to wipe out the ship girls at Mikura Jima Island to draw first blood.

We have an endless number of reserves and resources to fight this war forever, two things you certainly don't possess.

So the certainty of our victory is pretty much assured, you see.

I guess this was our way of giving you a sporting chance to win, likely because the Brainiac treats all this like a fucking game.]

Meeting Akashi's gaze, everyone felt the pressure shift onto the repair ship as the Southern War Princess revealed Abyssal Yuubari's desire to have Akashi as her opponent in a battle of wits.

[And like what she always says to everyone, she wants you to join in and play with her, Akashi of Yokosuka.]

Sneering as she relaxed and weakened as her wounds took their toll on her, Shigure intently listened to the Princess's last words as she chuckled softly, expressing her thought about the two fleets that destroyed them and brought her down.

[Heh...

It's kinda sad, really...

I respect your strength and the fact that you're capable of performing beyond what your stats allow.

That makes you all great warriors in my book, and was one reason why I shared what I knew so easily...

But seeing how heavily the odds are stacked against you, it's so sad, it almost makes me laugh and pity you all...]

Kiso inhaled through her nose, taking some time to absorb this knowledge as she commented on the battle, since despite the Princess's crass, ax-crazy behavior, extreme killing intent and hair-trigger temper, she was a half-decent warrior who legitimately gave them a run for their money.

"Well, it wasn't all that bad fighting against you, either.

You kept your word even though you didn't really have any obligation to do so, and it was quite surprising when you ordered your Elites to retreat instead of ordering them to fight to the death for you.

You stuck around and didn't run like a pussy even after learning that were the 8th Fleet of Yokosuka, and it took a lot out of us to bring you down, so take it as a compliment when we say that you were one tough bitch to sink."

And the Abyssal Southern War Princess chuckled a little, getting one last word in with her dying breath.

[Well, I must say the same for you all, as weak you all may look.

I'm almost tempted to feel sorry that warriors like you all are going to wiped out by the war's... end...]

Before shuddering and convulsing a little, the Princess expressing a bit of pain as the suicide program was carried out before it fully kicked in and spread to the rest of her body, her pale, limp body collapsing onto the ocean surface as her expression softened and her muscles slackened.

Hitting the ocean with a dull splash, everyone exhaled as they now knew that this was truly the end of the battle, despite being told of what was to come next.

Leaning down and uncoupling the steel hook from the Princess's corpse, Ise returned Akashi's hook to her as she commented on what they had just learnt about 'Apocalypse' and what it entailed.

"So, my guess is that this 'Apocalypse' is the 'Mud-skipper' scenario that the upper echelon predicted and prepared for immediately after the American Blitzkrieg of '07?"

Akashi nodded solemnly as she looked down at the sinking Abyssal corpse, unfettered by the carnage as she flipped and allowed her Anti-Abyssal karambit to slip back into her sleeve while a thoughtful Kawakaze looked towards a silent Shigure and explained.

"Well, the 'Mud-skipper' scenario's an extremely detailed plan to repel the Abyssals should they attempt another land assault after attacking the American mainland in 2007, plans ranging from blueprints to various Anti-Abyssal firearm prototypes to mass-evacuation plans to ensure the safety of the populace.

It was drawn up immediately the Abyssals attacked America, since the humans were then fueled by paranoia, preparing themselves for anything and suspected everything immediately after the unexpected land invasion."

Kiso interjected, now looking extremely concerned about their immediate future and the outcome of the war despite having just fought a hard-won battle.

"And after a few years when no other indications of another land assault happening despite their intelligence networks tracing and deciphering everything they could overhear, they mothballed said plans and focused on the here and now, trying to deal with the growing Princess threat.

But they forget that the Abyssals are always one step ahead of us, and unlike a normal war, we can't send spies in to eavesdrop on them and learn what they're up to."

Maya, limping forward while Hatsuharu provided her a shoulder to lean on despite her smaller body frame, spat some blood into the ocean as she grumbled.

"Seriously, how the hell did everyone think that the Abyssals would try to strike so soon after the American Blitzkrieg, yet never suspect that they were up to something after they failed to come out with another Five Year Plan for the last quarter of the war leading up to now?

It's like someone robbing your house and expecting them to do again after you bought a gun, yet don't prepare yourself when an unmarked van drives past your house a few months after said robbery."

Unryuu, despite missing an arm and looked a little paler than she normally did due to the blood loss, joined in the conversation as she pointed out.

"Well, it's not unreasonable for them to do so, since it's impractical for them to try and prepare for every situation under the sun.

In a war like this, where information is scarce and you cannot interrogate Abyssals due to their..."

Looking down at the spine of the Southern War Princess as the corpse disappeared under the ocean, Shigure was reminded that the Abyssals' self-destruct modules to kill themselves were an integral reason why they couldn't simply capture one and interrogate them, especially since experimental vials like the one Akashi injected into the Abyssal Princess were likely hard to research and make, and they had to use it when there was reason to believe that its use was justified.

Like now.

Unryuu continued,

"...due to their tendency to commit suicide in order to prevent capture.

It would stand to reason that the humans wished to focus on the more immediate threats, namely the Abyssal Princesses, instead of wasting their time on hypothetical scenarios.

No one can be paranoid forever."

Ise tried to clarify as she sheathed her katana and counted on her fingers, trying to make sense of the Abyssal's timeline.

"Alright, alright.

So from 1994, for the first five years, they send out regular Abyssal units.

Then for the next five years, they produce Elites and auxiliary units like the Wa-Class transport ships.

Five years from '04 onward, they introduce Princesses into the equation, but attack America in '07.

And for the last five years, or probably even earlier than that, they've been secretly designing and even producing land assault units for a while now, and I could be wrong about this, but did they attack us in '07 to get us paranoid for a while, wait for us to let down our guard after years of vigilance only for them to make their real move now?

Because if so..."

Ise balled up her fingers and raised them to her temples, before puffing out her cheeks to mimicking her mind being blown as her hands flattened, pointing out the strategic brilliance in that.

"That's seriously sick, like, in terms of how it's so simple, yet so effective."

Nodding, Shigure gave Akashi an aside glance after noting how her friend was so silent despite being respectably intelligent and was capable of coming up with and expressing valid opinions and hypotheses.

The last thing she expected was to see Akashi with the darkest expression she'd ever seen gracing a mortal's face so far, the repair ship's mood plummeting along with the temperature around her, her eyes empty as they were overshadowed by her fringe, everyone now turning to find Akashi's murderous aura completely gone, and her notable presence on the battlefield now nonexistent.

And that disturbed everyone more than anything else.

Everyone backed away from the repair ship as her tone conveyed no life whatsoever, absolutely ready to kill anyone who spoke up against her.

"I'd like it if you all forgot about the answer to that last question.

Please."

Maya, feeling a little more courageous than the rest of her fleet-mates despite her injuries, was the one to speak up as she raised her good hand to try and pacify the repair ship.

"H-Hey, bro...

I know you had some romantic history with Yuubari, but everyone has a right to know, since she was a part of our base-"

"No one will know of this."

Cutting her off like a scalpel performing a surgical incision with her words and her gaze, Akashi explained the situation and how exposing things to everyone was the worst thing they could do.

"We need concrete proof of 'Apocalypse' being a massive land assault campaign they've been preparing for what we can assume to be an entire decade in order to convince Central to endorse our efforts to mass-produce Anti-Abyssal firearms.

Another major naval battle, which I assume is yet another diversion by the Abyssal to get us to divide our attention and resources, is going to occur in the next month or two in the Sagami-nada Sea.

The last thing everyone needs is this bombshell affecting their morale.

Anyone who dares to breathe a word of this, be it to sister ships or fleet-mates, will risk getting personally scrapped by me."

Everyone in the backup fleet shivered upon hearing that, while the 8th Fleet dumbly nodded in acceptance, used to their flagship's rare, but ever-present capability for cold-blooded threats in order to serve the greater good and resigned to doing what they were told, now looking more interested in going home than anything else.

But Unryuu detected something on her radar as she turned her head to look at something off in the distance, using her enhanced carrier vision to spot the surfacing Abyssal signature in the distance as she warned.

"There's another Abyssal signature popping up from the ocean.

She-"

A slight pause, before continuing uncertainly.

"It seems as if she's raising her hands in surrender, and she doesn't seem to have an Abyssal pod on her head.

She's turning around now...

Is that...?"

Everyone was glad to have something to shift their attention towards, and all eyes and weapons were trained on the approaching enemy signature, Unryuu finally revealing what she was looking at.

"It appears she has a capital 'A' on her cape in a white font."

Both Shigure and Akashi's eyes widened, before giving each other an aside glance and replying curtly.

"Woxanne."